Grain-cleaner.



PATENTED MAY 24, 1904.

I No. 760,832.

w. WILLIAMSON. GRAIN CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED DEG. 31, 1903.

no MODEL.

I W/TNESSES;

suwcrm n c 1\T-a.760,8e2. W Y Patented May 24,1 9o4. UNITED STATES-f1 PATENT OF ICE.-

WILLIAM WILLIAMSON, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO C. J. WIL LIAMSON AND H. E. WILLIAMSON, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA. 5 I

GRAIN*CLEANER.

SPECIFICATION forming partof Letters Patent No. 760,832, dated May 24, 1904.

Application filed December 31, 1903. Serial No. 187,247. (No model.)

To all whom it y 0077160771: anism. Upon the top of this casing, or at the Be it known that I, WILLIAM WILLIAMSON, point where the grain is delivered to it, is a 5 a citizen of the United States, residing in the hopper 2, having a feed-roller 3 extending city and county of San Francisco and State of across at the lower end of the convergency of California, have invented new and useful Irnthe hopper sides. This roller maybe driven provements in Grain-Cleaners, of which the by any suitable connection, asibelt and pulfollowing is a specification. ley, from the fan-shaft. The fan-shaft may My invention relates to an apparatus which be either driven by hand, or, if forming apart is designed for cleaning grain and separating of a power-machine, by belt, chain, or other 10 it from straw, chaff, and other impurities. desired connection. I

' It consists in the combination, with loosely 4 and 5. are two shoes, suspended one above suspended, superposed, and .connectedshoes' the other. The shoe 4 is suspended by rods containing suitable screens, of a fan by which 6, and the shoe 5 has its rear end suspended a blast of air may be discharged, two pairs of by a rod 7, connecting with a crank oreocen- 5 eccentrics upon said fan-shaft, one pair being tric, as will be hereinafter described. The connected with the upper and the other with rear end of the shoe 5 is connected by links the lower shoe, substantially atright angles .8 with corresponding hooks 9, formed upon 5 with each other, and a means for adjusting the a rod depending from the proper shoe, as second pair of eccentrics to increase, diminish, shown. The lower end of the link or eyebolt 2 or reverse the stroke and to make a recipro' 8 is screw-threaded and has upon it a nut .10, cation with any desired relation to the first which enables me to take up the connection pair of eccentrics. In conjunction with this between the eyebolt and hook to prevent any 7 device is a superposed hopper and a means for undue 'slackness of motion between the two..- directing a. blast through the space between 11 is a fan mounted upon a shaft 12 and revo- 25 the hoppers, and thus separating outthe larger luble within an exterior casing 13, asshown.

chaff and straw before the grain reaches the i' This fan-shaft 12 has two cranks oreccenscreen-carrying shoe. p tries 14 formed in it, andthese are connect- My invention also comprises details of coned by rods 15 with opposite sidesof the shoe struction, which will be more fully explained 4. This'connection'is madeby a hook 9 and 3 by reference to the accompanying drawings, ,aneyebolt 8- at a .point sufiiciently distant in which V p from the hook 9 and eyebolt3 8,and a snug Figure 1 is a longitudinal and vertical sec joint may be maintained in a similar inannerg 9 tion.. Fig. 2 is a partial transversesection to that described for the former connections.

through the fan-case. Fig. 3 is a detail. sec- Asthe shoe is suspended, as previously stated,- 3

3 5 tion of the eccentric-drivers. Fig. 1 is a deby the hangers 6, it will be seen that'the revotail end View of the outer driver. lution of the fan will impart motion -through It is the object of my invention to'provide the cranks or eccentrics and the rods l5 and 5 a mechanism for the more complete separathe shoe will be moved in a substantially horition of grain from its impurities, and to this zontal direction. This movement is commu.

4 end the mechanism is so constructed as toims nicated through the-links 9 and eyebolts 8 toparta peculiar and different movement to each i give the lower shoe 5 a similar movementin I of the screen-carrying shoes. unison with that of the shoe 4. 1 9

As shown in the drawings, A represents '2. Upon the outer ends of the fan-shaft 12 are case or frame of any suitable or desiredconfixed disks or equivalent heads 16, which I 45 struction; If the apparatus is to be used as have here shown formed with transverse dove a stationary and'ordinary grain-cleaner only, tailed slots or channels 17, and within these this casing will be provided with legs or sup.- channels slides18 are movable. These slides ports and carry only the grain-cleaning mechcarry pins or bolts 19, to which the upper ends of the connecting-rods and hangers 7 of the lower shoe are attached. It will be seen from this construction that while the cranks or eccentrics 14: will through the connectingrods 15 impart a substantially horizontal reciprocating motion to both the shoes 4 and 5 the eccentricity of the pins 19 will' cause a vertical movement of the lower end of the shoe 5, and this movement combined with the horizontal movement gives a tossing motion to the grain which is moving down the screens to the shoe 5. If the revolution of the fanshaft be made from right to left from above, the action would be to cause the grain to move rapidly down the shoe; but for the purpose of retarding it and allowing the screens of the shoe 5 to act thoroughly upon the grain and separate from it the smaller worthless grain, such as mustard, I prefer to make the tossing movement such that the upward movement of the lower end of the screen 5 will take place in unison with the movement toward the rear end of the machine, the rear end being in this case the right, and thus the tossing motion will act to throw the grain up theit incline and retard its escape from the lower en By reason of the movable and adjustable slide 18 it will be readily seen that either of the above-described motions may be imparted to the screen 5, since the pin 18 may be moved along the channel 17, so as to stand upon either side of the center of the shaft and at any desired distance therefrom. In addition to this the head or disk 16 is keyed or secured by set-screw or other suitable means so that it can be turned and the slots or channels 17 made to stand in any desired relation with the other eccentrics 1 1 of the shaft 12. Thus the horizontal and tossing movement of the screens may be made to bear any relation to each other which will be most effective when doing the work required.

In order to utilize the blast of the fan, which is revolving from left to right, as shown by the arrows, the upper portion of the box or case A is closed, and beneath the hopper 2 is a second hopper 20, with downwardly-convergent sides and a channel 21 at the bottom, through which the grain from the hopper 2 is delivered upon the upper end of the upper shoe 4:. The grain passing from the hopper 2 is mixed with a great deal of light straw, chaff, and other impurities, and a blast of air from the fan 11 passes through a throat 22 at the upper part of the fan-case and is by this throat directed below the bottom of the hopper 2 and above the hopper 20, thus crossing the falling grain and separating the chaff and light stuff from it, carrying it over the deflector 23, which extends upwardly from the rear edge of the hopper 20, and thence beneath the deflector 24, which extends downwardly from the top of the casing A, and thence the chaff may pass out, as shown by the arrow, through an escape-passage 25, located above the back 26 of the case and between the top of this back and the top of the case A. It will be seen by the line of arrows that this passage is tortuous,and any grain which might be thrown backward by the intensity of the air-blast the heaviest would first fall within the rear portion of the hopper 20 and slide down to the point of delivery. Any that might be carried over the deflector 23 would in like manner slide down the incline 27, which forms a junction with the top of the hopper 20 and the deflector 23, and its lower end forms, with the back 26, a channel 28, through which any grain or material heavier than the chafl may be discharged with the discharge from the rear of the shoe L. The chaff and like material following the tortuous passage before described will be discharged through the opening 25, and the larger portion of the grain, falling from the hopper 2 through the hopper 20 upon the screens of the shoe 4, will be separated, first, from oats, barley, and coarser material, then in the final shoe 5, into which the grain falls, the mustard and line seeds will be separated, while the best grain passes over the lower end of the shoe 5.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination in a grain-cleaner and the exterior casing thereof, of superposed shoes, the upper suspended to swing substantially horizontally and lengthwise of the frame, the lower having its rear end suspended from the rear end of the upper shoe, a fan-shaft having cranks, connecting-rods between said cranks and the upper shoe whereby a substantially horizontal movement is imparted, other adjustable cranks and rods connecting them with the lower end of the lower shoe,whereby a variable compound motion is imparted to the shoes.

2. The combination in a grain-cleaner and the casing thereof, of superposed shoes suspended within the casing, a crank-shaft, rods connecting with the upper shoe to produce a longitudinal substantially horizontal movement thereof, other adjustable crank or eccentric pins attached to the same shaft, rods by which the lower end of the lower shoe is connected with said adjustable cranks and an eyebolt-and-link connection between the rear contiguous ends of the two shoes.

3. The combination in a grain-cleaner am the casing thereof of superposed suspended shoes, a casing therefor, two pairs of cranks formed upon said fan-shaft, one pair being connected with the upper shoe and the other pair connected with the lower end of the lower shoe, primary and secondary hoppers located one above the other having discharge-passages at the bottom of each, directing means where- ITO by the air-blast from the fan is delivered across the line of the grain falling from one hopper to the other.

4. The combination with a grain-cleaner and the casing thereof of superposed suspended connected shoes, cranks and connecting-rods by which a horizontally-reciprocating motion of the upper shoe and the rear end of the lower shoe is effected, other cranks whereby a vertical tossing motion of the lower end of the lower shoe is. simultaneously effected and means for adjusting said second cranks to reverse or regulate their throw.

5. The combination in a grain-cleaner and the casing thereof of superposed suspended screen-carrying shoes having the rear ends connected and the lower shoe diverging downwardly from the point of connection, means "bywhich a substantially horizontal oscillation of the upper shoe and the rear end of the lower shoe is. efiected, means for producing a simultaneous vertical movement of the lower end of the lower shoe, a fan and guide-open ings whereby the blast is delivered horizontally through the upper part of the casing, a

hopper through which grain is delivered into thelupper shoe, a feed-hopper located above and between which hoppers the air-blast is my hand in presence of two subscribing wit- I nesses.

' WILLIAMr WILLIAMSON. Witnesses:

S. H. NOURSE, JESSIE O. BRODIE. 

